Seeds of Fire
by Alzrius
Summary: After Konoha's destruction, Naruto is tasked to raise an army to destroy the Sound. But how will he do so?
1. Chapter 1

Seeds of Fire  
Alzrius

Disclaimer: Have I stolen an idea of yours? Call me at 1-800-DONT-SUE (disclaimer: this disclaimer stolen from The Simpsons).

_Thoughts are in italics._

* * *

Konoha was dying. 

Just thinking that made Naruto want to scream out in denial, but there was no way to deny it now. Orochimaru's first attack with the Sand two years ago had been bad, but it had been nothing but a skirmish compared to what was happening now.

Naruto had no idea where Orochimaru had gotten so many ninja from. Wasn't the Sound Country supposed to be a small little nothing country? Naruto had been out fighting the invaders for hours, as he knew everyone in Konoha must have been, but if they were even making a dent in the numbers assaulting the village, he couldn't see it.

As it was, the only reason he could see anything at all was because of the fires raging across the village. Despite being the dead of night the flames, seeming to grow larger and hungrier as they burned, illuminated the village brightly – a tribute to the greatest village of the Fire Country as it perished.

"Oi! Sakura-chan! Ero-Sennin! Anybody!" he hollered as he ran through the village. He couldn't go ten feet without seeing people locked in mortal combat, but it'd been a while since he could find anyone he knew, and it was beginning to seriously worry him. What if something had happened to Sakura?

Naruto continued to race through Konoha, hollering at the top of his lungs over the clash of steel and the roar of the flames. Ordinarily he would have stopped to help any Konoha shinobi he saw in a fight, but if he did that now, he'd never progress even a block, and the thought of Sakura dead… He shook his head, pushing that thought away as he ran through the village.

Turning a corner, Naruto cried out as he finally saw someone he knew. "Tsunade-obaachan!"

The Fifth Hokage was in the thickest part of the fighting, taking on seven ninjas with the symbol of the Sound country on their forehead-protectors. As Naruto cried out her name, she turned to look at him for just a moment, her eyes widening in shock. But it was a moment that cost her.

Instantly, three of the ninjas surrounding her leapt into the air, intent on attacking from above. Two crouched low and sprang at her, as the last two moved in to flank her. Tsunade, however, had already recovered from her second of inattentiveness. A short hop let her bring a foot down on each of the two coming at her from below, crushing their spines. At the same time, she twisted to the side to avoid the two coming at her straight on, grabbing them and with a grunt, hurling them upwards, letting them collide in the air with their descending brethren.

With all but one. The third aerial ninja twisted around his comrades, coming down perfectly as he drew a kunai, and thrust it into Tsunade's chest. A surprised look spread across her face before the remaining ninjas collapsed on them in a tangled heap.

"Baachan!" Naruto raced over to her, but hadn't even crossed half of the distance before the Sound shinobi were flung away in all directions like leaves in a tornado. Standing up from where she'd fallen, Naruto could see the markings across Tsunade's face. Though he'd never witnessed them before, he'd heard from Shizune-neechan about the Genesis of Rebirth technique that Tsunade has used before. This had to have been it.

Contemptuously wiping the blood off her blouse as she looked at the enemy corpses scattered at her feet, Tsunade turned her attention to Naruto. "Naruto, why-"

"Baachan!" Naruto cut her off as he reached her. "Have you seen Sakura-chan! I can't find her anywhere! I can't find anyone! I-"

It was Naruto's turn to be cut off as Tsunade knelt down so she was level with him, and slapped him across the face. Not hard, but just enough to get his attention.

"Naruto! Listen to me! They're probably long gone by now, I-"

"They wouldn't do that!" roared Naruto, upset by the implication that his friends would have deserted Konoha when they were needed the most.

"Naruto!" The young man shut up as Tsunade reached out and grabbed his shoulders so tightly that it hurt. "I gave the order to evacuate Konoha! I gave it three hours ago! Everyone who isn't a jounin or ANBU member was told to flee! What are you still doing here!"

Naruto couldn't answer, just looking at her, total surprise written across his features. "You…you want us to…"

Tsunade didn't have time for this right now. It was the first time in hours that a new group of enemy ninjas hadn't immediately replaced the ones she'd killed, and she doubted this brief lull would last much longer.

"We're defeated, Naruto." She released his shoulders, holding up a hand to forestall any protests. "Konoha won't survive this. By morning Hidden Leaf Village won't exist anymore. All that's left to do is try to get as many people out of here as possible – that's why the jounins and ANBU are staying behind, to sacrifice themselves so everyone else can escape! And that goes for you too, get out of here! Now!"

She pushed him away, but unsurprisingly, the little brat refused to move. "No!" The thought of retreating, turning tail and running while other members of his village died was absolutely abhorrent to the boy. "I'm staying here!"

"Naruto…" Tsunade's voice was a growl. She opened her mouth to order the boy to run, but paused as she saw more ninjas approaching. She only had a few seconds before they got here, and the little idiot put himself in danger again. Kneeling down again, Tsunade looked him squarely in the eye, forcing herself to speak levelly. "Naruto, I'm giving you a mission."

The confused look that crossed Naruto's face was enough to spur her on. Hopefully now she'd get through to him. "Your mission is to raise your own army of shinobi, wipe out the Sound country's forces, and then rebuild Konoha. Once you do that, then you'll be the sixth Hokage."

She saw Naruto's mouth open, either to ask questions or to protest, but it didn't matter which. Leaning forward suddenly, Tsunade kissed him on the lips. Completely shocked, Naruto didn't have time to react before Tsunade pulled away. "Now, get going and complete your mission!"

Giving him another push, Tsunade turned away from him and leapt to meet the group of enemy ninja that were almost on top of them now. Snarling, she tore into them, determined to buy Naruto some time to escape.

"Baachan! I'll absolutely complete my mission successfully!" Naruto wanted to say something more, something profound, inspirational, and moving. But nothing else came to mind…and he had to go. It was the hardest thing he'd ever done in his short, difficult life, but Naruto turned and leapt away, left with that image of Tsunade in his mind.

_I know you will Naruto-kun_, Tsunade smiled, even as she tore the life from the people around her. She knew she wouldn't survive this, that even if everyone else left, she'd die here with Konoha, as a Hokage should. But with Naruto, there was hope that the flame of this village, though extinguished, would be rekindled again someday.

It was enough.

* * *

It was much harder to ignore the sounds of fighting this time around. As Naruto leapt and ran through Konoha for what he tried to tell himself wouldn't be the last time, he seemed to hear every clash of steel, every hollered jutsu, and every scream that was suddenly cut short. Each and every one of them seemed to demand his attention, demand that he go and help whoever was giving his or her life so he could escape. And every time he ignored it was like a kunai being stabbed into his heart, making him grit his teeth so hard it hurt as he fled.

"Naruto-kun!"

He skidded to a stop, immediately turning to leap towards the unfamiliar voice. He couldn't ignore that. Mission or not, if someone was calling him specifically for help…

Running between two buildings, he immediately saw the source of the desperate plea. A little girl he didn't recognize was standing in front of a woman – Shizune-neechan! – who was doubled over, blood pouring down her abdomen, as two Sound ninjas advanced.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto hadn't even slowed down as he called out his signature technique. The clones immediately fell in beside him, charging towards the Sound ninjas, who immediately turned to assess the new threat.

Naruto let the clones tackle the first one en masse, focusing instead on the shinobi closer to Shizune-neechan and the little girl. He tried to get in close with a kunai – he'd realized after the fighting started that he'd need to use something deadlier than just fists – but the Sound ninja was skilled, and between the narrow alley and the two girls, Naruto couldn't surround him with clones.

Slashing madly, Naruto tried not to growl in frustration. He could already hear the sound of clones dissipating behind him, and even though it had barely been ten seconds since he'd begun his attack, he knew time was running out. He'd be hard pressed to fight two skilled ninjas, probably jounins, in such tight quarters and protect two people at the same time.

Naruto was almost ready to fall back and try his rasengan when the ninja he was fighting suddenly stiffened, dropping his kunai. Naruto saw his enemy's eyes bulge, mouth opening and closing soundlessly before he collapsed, laying very still. As he fell over, Naruto could see several needles protruding from his back. "Serves the…bastard right…" moaned Shizune, a trickle of blood running from her mouth, having just barely been able to raise her head up enough to spit poisoned needles at Naruto's foe.

The other ninja was down to just two clones, and was starting to perform a series of rapid hand seals when Naruto threw his kunai at him. Forced to abandon whatever jutsu he'd been about to perform, the Sound shinobi arced over Naruto, landing right beside the little girl and Shizune!

"Enough, brat!" the Sound shinobi snarled. "Dispel the clones, then put your hands behind your head, fingers interlocked, or I'll slit this little bitch's throat!" He already had a kunai, drawn in mid-leap, pressed to the throat of the girl, who strangely didn't look worried, despite having screamed for Naruto less than a minute ago.

Knowing it'd do no good to surrender – the enemy would just kill him and then kill the girls anyway – but having no other option, Naruto released his kage bunshin technique, letting the two clones disappear in a puff of smoke. He was about to put his hands behind his head when he heard a soft whisper, "juuken," and the enemy ninja suddenly screamed and fell over, one hand clutching his leg.

Not knowing what was going on, but grateful for the chance, Naruto leapt on the fallen shinobi, grabbing for the kunai. Whatever pain the Sound ninja was in was enough for Naruto to get the blade away from him, plunging it into his throat without hesitation.

Turning back to the women, Naruto was greeted with the gruesome sight of Shizune pulling a kunai out of her body. She'd been stabbed low, just below the belly, and she groaned softly in agony as she pulled it out, immediately pressing two fingers of her other hand to the wound, which glowed softly as she started to heal herself.

"Shizune-neechan! Are you alright?" Naruto mentally kicked himself for asking such a stupid question. Of course she wasn't alright! "We have to get out of here! Tsunade-baachan gave the order to evacuate the village!"

"'M'a jounin…" hissed Shizune, obviously still in a lot of pain. "Have to…stay here…Tsunade-sama…needs me…"

For once, Naruto didn't argue, turning to the little girl. "Listen, little girl-"

"Hanabi Hyuuga." She interrupted softly, voice quiet, and expression calm. Only the way her hands were shaking betrayed the fear and anxiety she felt as her world was falling apart around her.

"Hanabi-chan, is there anyone else here besides you?" A small part of Naruto's mind realized that she must be related to Hinata – didn't she mention once that she had a younger sister – that would explain the juuken technique that had felled that Sound ninja.

"I don't think so. I haven't seen my father or Hi-Hinata-oneesan since the fighting started." Her voice quivered just a bit at the mention of her missing family, but she savagely pushed it down. She was the heir-apparent of the Hyuuga family, and she would NOT start crying like some helpless child!

"Okay." Naruto seemed to deflate a little at hearing that everyone else was gone, and then picked himself up. "Can you run?" Hanabi nodded, and Naruto gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Okay, just follow me then." Turning away from her, Naruto, without any preamble, then scooped up Shizune, who cried out in shock and in pain as Naruto slung her over his shoulder, which pressed against her abdomen painfully.

"Na-Naruto-kun! Put me down! I have to go help Tsunade-sama!" Pain and desperation gave her enough strength to struggle, but Naruto was easily able to hold the older woman in place.

"…I'm sorry, Shizune-neechan." Naruto didn't have time to say anymore, but he knew this was what Tsunade would want. Shizune was obviously too injured to fight, and having witnessed her using her healing technique a lot (he'd frequently been the recipient of it after missions) he could tell she was low on chakra, probably to the point where she couldn't even heal herself completely. Leaving her here would be leaving her to die, and that was something Naruto refused to do.

With a quick backwards glance, and a cry of "Hanabi-chan, follow me!" Naruto was off. Shizune, her injury bumping against his shoulder as he ran, couldn't contain her whimpers of pain or her sobs of heartbreak as Naruto took her and Hanabi out of the village…her cries were fitting, matching the ones Naruto wished he could shed.

* * *

"I'm home." Naruto called out as he entered the small apartment.

"Welcome home." Came the familiar call of Shizune from the kitchen.

"What're you making for dinner? Ramen I hope." Naruto asked, sticking his head in to peek at what Shizune was fixing. He would have just walked in to take a look, but after his last attempt at making food for the girls, they had banned him from the kitchen until further notice.

Shizune rolled her eyes. "Naruto, you work in a ramen shop. You eat ramen every day for lunch. Don't you ever grow sick of it?" She had her back to Naruto, so while he couldn't see her smile, he could hear it in her voice. He was glad for it. In the four months since the destruction of Konoha, Shizune hadn't smiled very much at all.

The first few weeks had been the hardest. The dizzying flight from Hidden Leaf Village had culminated in a long trek out of the Fire Country altogether. Shizune had been surprisingly slow to heal. Since she hadn't been able to heal herself immediately, she'd caught an infection in her wound, which had in turn kept her sick enough that she'd only been able to spare small amount of chakra to heal her infection and injuries. Between that, the lack of any meaningful supplies, forcing them to forage for food and shelter (Hanabi, who had already learned byakugan, had been a huge help there), and the lack of medical supplies, Shizune had spent more than half of the six weeks of journeying in Naruto and Hanabi's care before she had recovered.

Finally, the trio had reached the Stone Country, and slowly set about building new lives there. Naruto had wanted to stay someplace closer, maybe even with some of the people he'd met on missions before Konoha had burned, but Shizune had argued against it, pointing out that if he went someplace he'd been before, it was possible that hunters could find him there if they'd managed to get the mission records in the Hokage's tower. The threat of being pursued, and the memory of his promise to Tsunade, had been enough to make Naruto relent to Shizune's reasoning.

Things hadn't been much easier once they'd reached the Stone Country. At Shizune's insistence, they'd thrown away the few supplies they still had. Anything that marked them as being ninjas could be used to track them down. Naruto and Hanabi had agreed, though Naruto had absolutely refused to throw away his forehead protector, settling for hiding it until the day he could openly wear it again. The only other memento he had of his life in Konoha was Tsunade's necklace, still having never taken it off since she'd given it to him.

It'd been difficult, especially since Shizune had instructed him and Hanabi not to use any ninja techniques unless it was life-or-death, but eventually Naruto had managed to get work at a ramen shop. His many visits to Ichiraku's previously had given him a discriminating air where ramen was concerned, enough so that the local shop had hired him on as an assistant chef for their kitchen – ramen was, it turned out, the one food item Naruto could make well. Between his job and Shizune working as a nurse at the local hospital, they'd managed to scrape together enough money for the little apartment they lived in now.

"Naruto-kun?" Shizune's voice snapped Naruto out of his daydreaming.

"Yeah?"

"Hanabi's been in her room for a while. Could you go check on her please? Tell her dinner's going to be ready in ten minutes."

"Sure."

For the youngest member of the group, Hanabi had seemingly weathered things the best. She had never cried over what happened, never complained about how hard things were. She'd never even expressed any desire to go look for any other Konoha survivors, unlike Naruto, who tended to argue with Shizune every few days about doing just that. It was enough to make Naruto wonder if she'd been practicing being so closed, or if it was an inborn trait among the Hyuuga clan.

Naruto rapped lightly on the door to Hanabi's room. "Hanabi-chan? Shizune-neechan says dinner'll be ready in ten minutes."

"Alright." Naruto paused at the short answer. Maybe he should go in and talk to her…Shizune was pretty busy at her hospital, and sometimes Hanabi was left alone when both Naruto and Shizune had to work. That had to be scary for her, since she hadn't seen her family since Konoha.

He'd almost knocked again, when Hanabi's voice came through the door. "Naruto-kun? Could you…come in, please?"

"Yeah." Shaking his thoughts off, Naruto didn't hear the slight catch in Hanabi's voice. He walked in, looking around for her, but not immediately seeing her. It was unusually dark in there. "Hanabi-chan?"

"Close the door." Naruto did so, hearing her voice coming from behind her dresser. As the door clicked shut, most of the light left the room, leaving only a little coming in through the drawn curtains.

"Hanabi-chan, why's it so dark in here? I can barely see…" Naruto trailed off as Hanabi stepped out from behind her dresser. Barely five feet away from him, there was still enough ambient light in the room to let him see her clearly.

Very clearly, as she was completely naked.

"Ha-Ha-Hanabi-chan! What are you doing!" Naruto quickly turned his face away, looking at the bed, and then quickly reconsidering and looking down at his shoes instead.

"Naruto-kun…" her voice was soft, unlike the flat, emotionless tone she usually used. "It's time."

"T-time?" Naruto was slowly starting to back up, trying to put more distance between himself and the naked little girl, when she suddenly crossed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her flat, undeveloped body against him.

"Yes, it's time." As close as she was, he couldn't avoid looking into her large white eyes, though thankfully, the rest of her body was hidden from view…though he could still feel it pretty clearly. "I'm fertile, and I'm ready." She stood up on her toes, just barely able to brush her lips against the freaked young man's ear, as she whispered…

"Breed me."

* * *

Author's Notes: The original idea for this fic was developed by The SOC Puppet. While he and I had fun discussing it for a while, he eventually decided that he wasn't going to write it, and was kind enough to give me permission to do so. 


	2. Chapter 2

Seeds of Fire

Chapter Two

Alzrius

Disclaimer: None of the characters here are mine, but I'm using them anyway! And you'll never catch me!

_Thoughts are in italics._

_

* * *

_

"Breed me."

"Wh-WHAT!" If Naruto had been freaked before, he was downright panicked now.

"Breed me, Naruto-kun," Hanabi repeated. "I can produce many healthy children, so-"

Naruto had heard enough. None of the fights he'd ever been in in his entire life had scared him as much as this conversation was right now. Desperate to get away, he rapidly performed a series of hand seals and shouted, "Kawarimi no jutsu!"

Hanabi blinked once as she found herself hugging her bed pillow instead of Naruto. Turning around, she frowned as she noticed him now crouched on the head of her bed, glancing around rapidly. "Naruto-kun…" Her voice was no longer (what she thought was) a sexy purr, instead reflecting the mixture of annoyance and exasperation she felt.

A small part of Naruto's mind idly noted that he'd botched that jutsu rather badly, since it was meant to be done silently and without drawing notice. The much larger portion of his brain, however, was trying to juggle the tasks of finding a way to get the hell out of there, and not touch, or even look at, Hanabi's naked body. Both of which were going to be difficult, as she was now between him and the door…and had just thrown away the pillow she'd been left holding, once again putting her body on display for him. He didn't have anymore time to think, however, as a knock at the door made him yelp and leap up. "Naruto-kun? Hanabi-chan? What's going on in there?" Shizune hadn't stopped speaking before she started to open the door.

That was the last straw for Naruto's panicked mind. Just the thought of a grownup catching him with a naked little girl was enough to make him completely throw caution to the wind in favor of escape. Leaping at the room's sole window, he ripped the curtains apart, pushed the window open so hard it nearly broke, and threw himself out of it with all the strength he could muster, not caring for an instant if anyone saw him vaulting out of a fourth-story window.

Shizune, having entered just in time to see the end of Naruto's wild flight, looked on with wide eyes, which got even wider as she noticed the naked child glaring at the now-empty window. Completely stunned, the medical ninja managed to vocalize the first thought that crossed her mind. "What the hell is going on?"

* * *

"You told him to WHAT!"

After Naruto had fled the apartment, Shizune had told Hanabi to get dressed and then explain what had happened. After putting dinner literally on the back-burner while the Hyuuga heiress put her clothes back on, the two women were now sitting at the small table in the middle of the apartment, where Hanabi had unabashedly confessed to what she'd said.

"To breed me." Hanabi's face was once again the perfect expressionless mask that so many of her clan wore. Or rather, it was almost expressionless, as she couldn't completely hide her growing annoyance of how Shizune seemed to be following Naruto's example and descending in hysterics. "I wanted him to have sex with me and get me pregnant."

For Shizune, the sheer number of things that were wrong with what Hanabi had just said were so numerous that when she tried to articulate them a moment later, she unsuccessfully tried to say them all at once, resulting in her spewing nearly thirty second's worth of gibberish.

When her brain finally caught up with her mouth, and she realized that "Naruto babies protection love hormones young adoption instincts molesting abortion statutory marriage puberty diseases UNDERAGE!" was in fact not an actual sentence, she finally managed to calm herself down somewhat…enough so that she no longer looked like she was about to hyperventilate herself into unconsciousness, at least.

Finally managing to collect herself, Shizune tried again. "Hanabi-chan, you're too young to have sex, let alone have a baby!"

"No I'm not. I'm eleven years old, and I've been menstruating since I was nine, meaning that I'm fertile and able to bear children." There wasn't any heat in Hanabi's voice, just cold logic, still wearing a slightly irked expression.

"Hanabi…" The degree to which Shizune felt uncomfortable having this conversation was immeasurable. Was this what it was like for all members of the Hyuuga clan when they had to give their kids "the talk?"

"Listen, having sex is a huge step in a girl's life, and becoming a mother is even larger. It's becoming completely responsible for someone else's life, and it means putting that life ahead of your own, twenty-four hours a day for as long as you live. It's more responsibility than most adults can handle, let alone children. To say nothing of how difficult a pregnancy would be at your age! And that it's illegal for him to do that with you!"

"I understand."

"And furthermore it…wait, you do?" Shizune could almost feel the sense of hope rising in her, and started to mentally pat herself on the back. She wasn't such an excellent medical ninja for nothing!

"I just don't care." Shizune slumped over, hitting her head on the table as Hanabi's words destroyed her sense of self-satisfaction.

"Hanabi-chan, listen-"

"No, you listen. I'm a Konoha ninja, just like you, and because of that, the only thing I care about is restoring Konoha." Hanabi was still speaking in the same soft tones, but now the iron was audible in her voice, and her pale eyes seemed to almost glow with determination.

"You heard what Naruto-kun told us, Shizune-oneechan. We need to raise an army and destroy the Sound Country for what they did to us. Only then can we restore our village." Hanabi paused to give Shizune a penetrating look. "Have you thought about where we're supposed to get this army from, oneechan?"

Shizune shifted as her discomfort grew, knowing where this conversation was heading. "I wasn't…I mean…"

"We haven't seen any of our people since we came here. And I've heard you telling Naruto time and again that it'd be a fool's errand to go searching for them, since we don't know where to look and it'd just call attention to us. We don't have enough money to hire mercenaries, and the other ninja villages won't attack an established power on behalf of a defeated village."

Shizune looked down, unable to refute any of that. She'd been thinking about this as well, and knew how bleak things looked regarding Konoha's future resurrection. Hanabi continued, "And even if we did find other Konoha shinobi, would it be enough? The jounins and ANBU stayed behind, which means they probably all died. And it's foolish to think that everyone who fled survived either."

"Shizune, the only way we're ever going to have enough people to strike back against the Sound is if we have children, lots and lots of children. We'll have many, and train them to be excellent ninjas, and send them out to find other survivors, whom I can guarantee you will be doing the same thing. Then, we'll lead them into battle, and reclaim our home."

"It's not that simple. You can't just expect to start squeezing out kids one after another and make an army that way." Shizune could hear the desperation in her voice, but even she didn't know if it was to try and convince Hanabi that she was wrong, or convince herself that Hanabi was wrong. Shizune had thought a lot about Tsunade's last words, once Naruto had confided in his housemates, and she'd eventually reached the same conclusion that Hanabi was espousing now. Unlike the young Hyuuga, however, Shizune didn't quite feel ready to stop searching for alternatives yet.

"It is that simple. I'm a woman of Konoha, and this is my duty. For that matter, it's your duty too, and I haven't seen you trying to warm his bed."

Feeling her face turn red, Shizune couldn't help but wonder just where Hanabi had even learned expressions like that. Were kids becoming perverted at a younger age these days, or was Hanabi just trying hard? Realizing that Hanabi was actually waiting for an answer to her last remark, Shizune fell back to a tried-but-true tactic she'd used whenever Tsunade had said something that was impossible to respond to: ignore it and change the subject. "Hanabi, I'm not saying your idea isn't a viable one, it's just that you and Naruto aren't ready for this. If you could wait just three years, maybe then-"

"'Three years'?" Hanabi cut her off, her voice becoming even colder. "'Three years'? All that will happen in three years is that we'll all become three years older. I can have four children in three years, Shizune! This is going to take decades, and we need to start now!"

"Well Naruto-kun didn't seem so eager to start now, did he!" Shizune felt bad about the way she snapped at the girl, but the frustration she'd been feeling this entire time had finally reached its peak. She hated that she was losing an argument about sex to an eleven year-old, and she hated even more than it was because said eleven year-old was right and she was wrong, driving her to lash out at Hanabi to make her shut up. "He ran away from you like you burned him!"

"I thought he'd find me attractive!" Shizune's words had finally hit a sore point, and now it was Hanabi's turn to start yelling. "I thought men liked girls like me!"

Silence reigned in the apartment in the wake of the youngest Hyuuga's outburst for several moments. Hanabi was looking down, her hands clenched into fists and an upset look on her face. For the first time it occurred to Shizune that Hanabi's feelings had probably been hurt by the full-on rejection Naruto had given to her clumsy advances. After all, no girl liked to feel unattractive.

"Hanabi-chan, what did…I mean, why would…" Shizune stumbled over the question, trying not to give Hanabi a backhanded insult in asking why she thought that. Her voice died away as Hanabi wordlessly got up and went back to her room. Shizune had just enough time to start feeling guilty for how she'd treated the girl, when Hanabi came back and plunked several books on the table.

"Because of these. I know men like big boobs and long legs, but I was doing some research on how to…be sexy," her voice turned into a mumble as she hurried over the last two words, embarrassed despite herself, "and I found these. So I know that men must like girls like me also, right?"

Curious, Shizune picked up the first book, then balked as she read the title. "'Daughters of Lust'! This is a lolicon manga!"

"I got some novels too."

Horrified, Shizune looked through the rest of the pile, her voice slowly rising to an outraged shriek as she read the titles. "'Grade School Vixens'! 'Naughty Ninja-Girls in Training!' 'LOLI LOLI PARADISE'!"

"That last one was particularly helpful. It said that letting him know that I wanted to be 'knocked up' was a great way to-"

Hanabi trailed off as Shizune slammed the books down with a growl. She silently swore that if Jiraiya had survived the destruction of Konoha, and she ran into him again, she'd make him wish he'd died there! "You aren't old enough to be reading these yet! How did you even buy these in the first place! You're not even supposed to leave the house!"

Becoming slightly upset again, Hanabi frowned at the older woman. "Relax, I put the eye drops in."

Before arriving in the Stone Country, it had become necessary to address the problem of Hanabi's eyes. The unusual color would make her stand out, and clearly mark her as carrying the Hyuuga bloodline limit of byakugan, making her a target for ninjas everywhere.

Naruto had wanted to teach Hanabi how to use the henge no jutsu to disguise herself, but Shizune had overruled him. After all, any skilled shinobi would be able to detect a henge, and then they'd automatically be suspicious about why such a young girl was disguising herself to begin with, which would defeat the point.

Instead, Shizune had concocted a substance to temporarily dye Hanabi's eyes. The mixture she'd used was a black poison she'd had on her when they'd fled Konoha. It was usually used to permanently blind enemies by throwing it in their eyes. By using an extremely watered-down version, Shizune had been able to put a drop on each of Hanabi's eyes, the substance coloring them black without damaging her sight. It naturally faded over a day though, and Shizune hadn't been able to acquire more of that particular poison yet, so Hanabi had been forced to ration the little she'd been given.

"Even so, you shouldn't have left without telling either of us, and you especially shouldn't have bought these smutty books! I can't believe the bookshop owners were willing to sell these to a little girl!"

"I stole them," explained Hanabi, a mild frown still marking the extent to which Shizune's outburst bothered her. "It would have been wasteful to spend our money on this. Besides, this is a part of my mission for Konoha, so it wasn't wrong."

One eyebrow twitching madly, Shizune bit her tongue to keep from castigating the girl again. Instead, she busied herself with putting the books on the highest shelf in the room, ignoring that that would probably be no barrier at all for the resourceful Hanabi.

"Shizune-oneechan." The medical ninja took a deep breath before she turned back to the younger girl.

"Yes?"

"The books didn't work. Naruto-kun didn't want to breed with me." Hanabi couldn't meet Shizune's eyes as she spoke, slightly ashamed that her first real mission for Konoha had, so far, been a failure.

Shizune opened her mouth to respond, but before she could Hanabi looked up and spoke again. "Shizune-oneechan, I need you to train me."

"Train you?" Realizing that she'd long since lost any vestige of control over this conversation, Shizune could only guess at what Hanabi was talking about now. "Train you in what?"

"In the womanly arts of seduction."


End file.
